Straight up, not stirred
Healthcare is a complex world to work in, whether we sell products or services. On top of our day to day business, we’re struck by reams of science, mode of actions, molecular specs, and more.
The result is that in healthcare, we are surrounded by distractions. When we’re asked to explain what it is we do, we get immediately sidetracked into describing stuff that is really besides the point. To be fair, there are times when we have to pass the time; fill in gaps in conversation. Perhaps this is why this kind of pointless talk has been described as “elevator speech”, or the more stylish “martini monologue”.
But sometimes it invades boardrooms, too. We lose sight of our brand as “the moral of our story” when we plan our communications. Or maybe we understand our brand in our own heads, but fail to produce a short, consistent description when asked. We prepare in the wrong ways, getting tangled in details when it’s really not necessary.
How do we get to that core of what it is we do? By asking yourself one question: why it is that we (or our service) can meet customer’s needs better than anyone else. If you can find a way to verbalise this to a stranger in a lift or a brand director over lunch, you’re practising engagement. That brand story will find its way into communications materials too - the places that you build on with key messages, that complicated MOA diagram, and so on.
Martini anyone?
Blog posts
Tash said (March 19th, 2008 at 3:22pm)
Its a suprisingly question with very few brands who can answer it straight. Why do you exist as a brand. Now so much what you do, but why you do it and how you do it better than the next guy. 3 sentences and thats your brand all wrapped up. Scarily simple really and makes me fear for my job, surely I should make it sound more complex that that to secure my own importance. If you can nail those questions you can pretty much set up your own brand consultancy and charge people millions for the opportunity to answer those questions for themselves!